Baked Wenshan Baozhong

On January 21, 2010, my new friends Israel and Sarah joined me for a day trip to Pinglin, Taiwan to meet my buddy Amin. When we arrived at his house we could smell the delicate fragrance of baked Wenshan Baozhong tea (文山包種茶) coming from this warm electric oven.

We spent the afternoon hiking around the lovely green hills, eating an unforgettable lunch prepared by Amin's mom, and sampling many amazing local teas.

One of several teas that I decided to buy from Amin was this baked Wenshan Baozhong tea to sell at Teacup (the busy Seattle tea shop at which I work). So far, it has been very well received.

The dry leaves have a long and elegant shape with a nice mix of orange, brown and green color. They smell a little bit nutty and woodsy.

The tea soup is a pretty golden color and smells a bit like fresh baked whole wheat bread.

This oolong has a super smooth start which transforms into a faintly peppery finish, and its flavor seems much less roasty in the mouth than it did in the nose. My tasting notes for this tea included honey, snap peas and baked apples.

Please come by the Teacup if you're interested in tasting some with me.

Taken from http://www.blackdragonteabar.blogspot.com/

Red Hat Society

A World in a Pan has recently hosted a French Cuisine Atelier for a group of fun ladies who belong to the Red Hat Society.
"The Red Hat Society began as a result of a few women deciding to greet middle age with verve, humor and elan. We believe silliness is the comedy relief of life, and since we are all in it together, we might as well join red-gloved hands and go for the gusto together. Underneath the frivolity, we share a bond of affection, forged by common life experiences and a genuine enthusiasm for wherever life takes us next." I met the ladies at the local open market and we shopped for fresh ingredients for our meal. The Red Hat ladies chose a menu that included a light Celery cream with a mirepoix of turnips, Cod tenderloin with a bacon robe, and a Pear and chocolate clafoutis. If you are surprised by putting together bacon and fish, so were our guests, but they loved it, so .. TRY IT! Check this month's recipe by Anncoo, she also mixes shrimps and bacon strips.

600-ton "king of teapot"

A three-storey-equivalent "king of teapot" in Fujian's Anxi County, home of Tieguanyin tea (a type of Oolong tea).
It is learned that the interior of the teapot is structured with steel bars and the exterior is inlaid with more than 300 pieces of granites. 8.6 metres in height and estimated to weigh about 600 tons,the teapot will apply for a Guinness world record.

Taken from http://teapotsteapotsteapots.blogspot.com/

Matcha Marbled Tea Cake

The lovely photograph above (and recipe below)

courtesy of Sabra from Cookbook Catchall

MATCHA MARBLED TEA CAKE

1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
1.5 teaspoons matcha powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Butter a loaf pan. Line with a piece of parchment paper that covers bottom and long sides (leave some poking up from the pan to facilitate lifting the loaf out later). Butter the parchment paper.

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Put the butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with sour cream. Add vanilla, and mix 1 minute.

4. Portion out 1/3 of the batter into a small bowl. Mix in matcha powder, stirring well to combine.

5. Spread one-third of the plain batter into prepared pan. Use a small offset spatula to ensure an even, flat layer. Dollop with 1/3 of matcha batter and use a spatula to gently spread the matcha layer on the top of the other. Spread another third of the plain batter on top, followed by another third of the matcha batter. Repeat one more time so that the final layer is the rest of the matcha batter. Run a thin knife through batter to marbleize. Run spatula over top to ensure the batter is flat in the end.

6. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire cooking rack for a few minutes. Lift cake out by the parchment handles and allow to cool completely on rack.

Taken from http://uniquelytea.blogspot.com/

Brewing up a New Chai in support of the Jane Goodall Institute

We are absolutely thrilled to launch our new Masala Chai Concentrate! The new chai is an improvement upon our previous formula for a few different reasons: the flavors are richer and deeper, the packaging is more environmentally friendly and will take less fuel to ship it around the globe, and most importantly, we’ve partnered with the Jane Goodall Institute! Proceeds from each sale of the concentrate benefit Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots Program.

Jane Goodall has worked for almost fifty years to protect animals, habitats and communities around the globe. The Roots& Shoots Program that she founded in 1991 is a youth-driven, global network of more than 8,000 groups in almost 100 countries. Together, youth from around the globe take action to improve our world through service learning projects that promote care and concern for animals, the environment and the human community.

Rishi Tea’s Masala Chai Concentrate is an organic and Fair Trade Certified™ microbrewed blend of energizing spices and rich vanilla infused with a full-bodied single origin forest grown black tea. Unlike other companies that use soluble tea and flavor extracts, we use traditional Indian spices that are slow brewed for more than 20 hours and ethically sourced, wild-grown black tealeaves from an ancient tea tree forest.

The Fair Trade black tea is harvested in Yunnan, China’s Mannong and Manmai villages, and helps support more than 220 families living and working in the villages. Ancient wild-grown forest tea comes from a sustainable, biologically diverse ecosystem. Less than 2% of the world’s tea is harvested in such a low impact and truly organic manner.

Joshua, Rishi Tea founder and tea buyer shares “Our Masala Chai goes above and beyond its organic and Fair Trade certifications. Promoting biodiversity, preserving soil and species and preventing erosion is critical to sustaining the environment but few large-scale tea farms work to this aim. Rishi’s direct trade of sustainable forest tea is a market driven solution for environmental conservation and pairs well with what the Roots & Shoots Program is all about.”

Rishi Tea’s organic, Fair Trade and Kosher Certified Masala Chai Concentrate is also fat free, gluten free and vegan. It’s available at Whole Foods for $5.99 and will be available at www.rishi-tea.com soon!

Taken from http://rishi-tea.blogspot.com/

Description of Ceylon picking and firing from 1888

Some more of my digging through antique ephemera produced this, from an 1888 edition of Good Housekeeping magazine (the second sentence of which and others are of interest to those who were piqued by my previous post about tea adulteration) ...

CEYLON TEA

Tea is getting to be a great product of Ceylon and the export is already 10 million pounds. It is claimed in behalf of this tea that it is cleaner than Chinese or Japanese tea, which is manipulated and adulterated until its quality is considerably deteriorated. In Ceylon, coolies pick the tea leaves, which are spread on trays to wither under cover for about a day. The withered leaf is then placed in a rolling machine, driven by power, and rolled for an hour, and during the process the leaves become a moist and twisted mass, out of which the expressed juice freely rolls. The leaves are then placed in trays to ferment or oxydize, during which process they change from a green to a copper color. The subsequent flavor and strength of the tea depend, to a great extent, on the fermentation, which is a chemical process, the success of which is due to the weather.

Firing is the next process. The tea is thinly spread on trays and placed either on charcoal stoves or in large iron drying machines, and at the end of half an hour it is thoroughly crisp and dried and has become tea. The tea is then sized by being passed through sieves of different mesh, giving the varieties of Broken Pekoe, Pekoe, Souchong, Congou and Dust. The first mentioned, which consists chiefly of the opening bud of the leaf, gives the strongest tea; so strong that the other teas are mixed with it. The tea is again slightly fired to drive off any suspicion of moisture, and packed while warm in lead lined boxes.

Ceylon tea may now be bought in the American market. It is extolled for its strength and flavor, and it is said that two pounds of it will go farther than three pounds of Chinese or Japanese tea. It is said to have a fragrance that is peculiarly its own.

Taken from http://teasquared.blogspot.com/

A Perfect Fall Cookie

We have a persimmon tree near us, and I love persimmon pudding! It reminds me of Grandma. I wanted to branch out this year beyond the pudding (a moist cake), and so I tried a persimmon cookie recipe. I am a fan! These cookies are deliciously sweet and spicy, and pair perfectly with a cup of strong black tea.

In the Midwest, we have American persimmons. The American persimmon is very soft-sided and thin-skinned, not at all like the firm Asian ones you see at a grocery store. You'll seldom see an American persimmon at the grocer's because they're no good unless very ripe and that makes it hard to transport them. You may find persimmon pulp at farmer's markets. The best way, however, is to walk around in the woods and find a tree. You won't have much competition for the fruit (except from the critters) because not many two-leggeds know how to use persimmons any more. It's definitely an old-timey food. The genus name of this tree is Diospyros and it means "fruit of the gods." Persimmons were important to the fall diet for Native Americans and early settlers.

I used this recipe for the cookies, with a few modifications. I left out the raisins and nuts (on purpose) and inadvertently left out the egg. I detected no negative impact without the egg, so the recipe could easily be converted to vegan. I added a dash of ginger powder. I also replaced the sugar with honey, and used about half the amount listed. Of course, I used whole wheat. The recipe is a keeper. I must have made large cookies, because I got 24 out of one batch (compared to their 90!)

Taken from http://stephcupoftea.blogspot.com/